Life-changing.
This is the only word I could think of that sums up this experience.
A group of volunteers including me and three other facilitators participated in a 3-day outreach. It took place in a rural area in Batangas, Philippines. The place was beautiful as it was simple but pleasing in every way. Locals greeted us with warm smiles as we arrived after a long drive. Everything was exquisite.
We were tasked to mingle with children who are financially poor through teaching, reading stories, and playing with them. Every single one of the volunteers had fun even though there was limited time. During the second day, our group—composed of over 30 volunteers—was further divided into 6 teams. The next duty that we had to do was visit the families of the children. We went to their homes and gave them a small package consisted of hygiene essentials. That day was extremely exhausting but it was definitely one for the books!
Here are some life-lessons that I learned based on this memorable outreach:
- It is important to dedicate a day or two for others.
One of the things that a facilitator said before the outreach was to “forget oneself”. No, it doesn’t literally mean to forget who you are. But rather, it means that we should learn how to be thoughtful for the people around us—whether that person is a complete stranger or a person you love. Some people these days are too ignorant to think of others that they only prioritize themselves all the time. We need to start showing empathy for others regardless of who they are.
2. Don’t be scared to try out new things!
It was my first time going to a rural area to teach kids and I got nervous because I was new to this activity. But I joined anyway because of my passion in helping others and seeing them happy. If you let your anxiety take over your mind, you would not be as productive as you thought you’d be. It will be really hard at first because you’ll feel naïve. However, you should try to keep up and ‘go with the flow’. You never know what excitement awaits if you remove your fear of trying what is new.
3. Life is too short to complain about what you don’t have.
Let’s face it. The generation today wants a variety of necessities such as overly expensive phones and make-up. And if ever we’re not able to put our hands on it, we tend to rant and get jealous of others who have.
The thing is that we are too focused on wanting more that we forget about others who have less.
People—especially millenials—should immediately realize the importance of appreciating what they already have and how lucky they are to have it.
4. Sometimes, happiness doesn’t come from material things, but from the people around you.
This is one of the most important realizations that I learned from the outreach because I am guilty of using my phone too much. But when I joined this activity, I learned that it is a complete waste of time to be scrolling down my feed on Facebook, Instagram, and other social media platforms for an average of 2 hours per day. Sometimes you have to take your eyes off the screen and live life.
According to The Telegraph, “the average person has five social media accounts and spends around 1 hour and 40 minutes browsing these networks every day”. The real question is: Why do we rely on material possessions for our happiness?
Romeo Miller once said,” Family is always gonna be there. The material things, they come and go.”
5. Cherish every second with the people surrounding you.
This lesson is what we should keep in mind all the time. You’ll never know when will be the last time you’re going to see someone. I become conscious of this during our last day of outreach when I had to bid good-bye to the children I taught. I didn’t really want to leave and we should have stayed longer. It is hard to leave people that you’ve been with but what more the people you love? No matter who it is, value your time with people.
This outreach undoubtedly taught me a lot of things that couldn’t be bargained. It is definitely an experience of a life time.
